Goodbye, Namibia

We left Namibia for Cape Town on April 30, so the last week in Windhoek was pretty full of fun and memories. Katelyn and I presented our final integrative project on Tuesday the 26^th, which marked the end of my academic work for the semester! For part of our presentation we made fatcakes, which were delicious! We added apples and cinnamon to some of them and it was a hit. If you bribe me enough, I might make some for you. Anyways, on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning we listened to everyone’s presentations. Some of them were really entertaining, like the one based on Namibian soap operas, and one that was a comic book. But mine had the best tasting food.

Katelyn making fatcakes

Our Integrative Project

Thursday was full of cleaning, packing, and partying! We spent the morning attempting to clean the CGE house thoroughly, pack everything that had gotten scattered around the house, and preparing for our goodbye party. Different CGE-ers shared their various culinary talents for the party, which included cheese pizza, chili, and a cupcake cake shaped like Urbanus. All the faculty and staff were present, and a the party ended with a dance party with Eveline, Junobe, and Sarah. It made for a great send-off!

On Friday I walked into Windhoek with some of my friends for some coffee and last minute souvenir shopping on their part. It was probably a good thing we left when we did, because a lot of the girls in the house spent most of the day watching the royal wedding. Now, I enjoy a good wedding as much as the next girl, but I don’t need to spend my last full day in Namibia sitting in front of the TV, watching an hours long wedding thousands of miles away. But we were at least in the same time zone, unlike all those crazy people at home who were up at 3 in the morning to watch the wedding. Even some of the German touristy shops had the wedding on their TVs. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out by the pool, and then the party thrown by the Cardboard Box in our favor.

Saying Goodbye to 5 Simpson Street

Saturday morning was bittersweet. We were all looking forward to Cape Town, but we didn’t think Jessy was going to be able to come with us, and most people were sad to be leaving Namibia. I don’t know if/when I’m going to be back, and it was hard saying goodbye to 5 Simpson Street and Tom Thumb. If I do make it back, it won’t be the same at all. Although I was sad to be leaving, I was more at peace with it than most people were. I loved my time in Windhoek, I loved walking the streets, but I think I got out of the trip what I needed to get out of it, and I made my peace with the fact that I might not be back. We checked out of our rooms, and then climbed into the kombis for one last trip in Namibia. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any last baboons on the ride to the airport, but the flight was pretty uneventful. Hosea Kutako airport is pretty small, but there were no problems getting through security or immigration.

Walking onto the tarmac to leave Namibia